The second anniversary of this post is coming up, and surprise surprise these little "end of life" laptops are continuing to run well with #linux and do what we need them to, which includes spending less on tech so we can buy more actual books for the school library. #schooltech #endof10 #edtech #foss #reading #kidlit
@fairtradestu As the laptops get older, consider switching to lightweight distros such as Debian or ZorinOS to get more years of life, because Ubuntu is kinda bloated.
Debian is more technical to set up and is more lightweight and customizable. Zorin OS is easier to install and use, and it also supports remote management.
Oct 9, 2026, 1:10 PMEdubuntu is a decent solution. Another is Emmabuntüs which is Debian-based.
Zorin OS is based on Ubuntu 🤔
@fairtradestu if only they were thinkpads :(
I wonder if we could make a program like that old OLPC one where we repurpose eWaste Chromebooks/Netbooks and donate them
😃
My Thinkpad I bought on eBay more than 10 years ago and was at least five years old then, is going strong with a SSD and Pop OS.
Downside is that many economy laptops are not upgradable to Linux at all due to weird hardware and locked down bios.
@Stuck_Here Locked down bios issues are a real pain, and seem to increasing in the stuff made specifically for education. In most schools round here it's apple, google or microsoft that end up pulling the strings on what can be used, and it really shouldn't be.
@Stuck_Here @fairtradestu locked down as in, you can't boot from USB or...? That's a shame.
@fairtradestu Depressing isn't it? Planned obsolescence.
@fairtradestu And it's not even like the students are forced to use ourdated stuff on them
Oct 9, 2026, 3:06 PM@fairtradestu I have an IBM ThinkPad with Windows 10 that I'm still using productively for work to this day. The hardware is built like a tank and Windows 10 runs way lighter than 11. Of course Linux will most likely scream on any of this units.
@fairtradestu Love this so much.
Microsoft ends support for its last non-subscription version of Office 365 (2021) on October 13.
After that, you get far less software for far higher prices. No more Access. No more Publisher.
The waste of planned obsolescence & the perpetual money grab of subscription software platforms; it gets tiresome.
@fairtradestu I once went to teach a university lecture with a laptop from the 1990s to prove a point to my students (who were all born this millenium).
It was a fun social experiment.
No Linux, but Windows 95 and Powerpoint 97.
@julienrossi @fairtradestu Unless the projector setup has vga it might be too old to connect to it.
What was the point you were trying to make?
@jason123santa @fairtradestu VGA is often present, and you can use an adaptator.
My point was just to show that old computers can still do a lot, and to launch a discussion on planned obsolescence, etc.
And frankly also just to have fun, given that many of them had never really seen a working computer from the last millenium.
@julienrossi @fairtradestu Right there are ways (not that they are are perfect) to connect vga to modern setups.
I do think older computers can do a lot and like using older tech.
Myself being younger I never actually seen a computer from the 1990s besides from online. So it would be interesting for me.
@jason123santa @fairtradestu If you can get your hands on a cheap one, do try. They are fun ^^
@fairtradestu
And in my experience they run quicker too!
@fairtradestu
Don't. I've fought hard with my work for this, but they've drunk so much Microsoft coolaid that anything other than windows is "dangerous". To the point where the head of It security said tha "open source is bad because we can't see what the code does"
Oct 9, 2026, 9:27 PM@DodoTheDev @fairtradestu astonishing. Though, it does remind me that when I was studying for my PhD the IT manager banned Linux because it would make the network vulnerable to hackers, or something.
@DodoTheDev when I proposed using Linux, I was bombarded with all kinds of safeguarding concerns. I answered every single one, and then pointed out 365 accounts allow pupil A to go home and create anything dodgy they like on PowerPoint, word, sway etc, and share it with pupil B and despite the fact we, the school, have provided the means of contact, we have no idea what has been shared and cannot access it and are relying on parents to report stuff to us. We know some kids have unmonitored internet access so IMHO we are being neglectful in our safeguarding duty as a school to allow it (we're talking 8 year olds here). The responses suddenly went quiet.
@fairtradestu I know why this isn't "best practice" for all institutions, but it really ought to be.
(It's monopoly power. It's always monopoly power.)
@fairtradestu I have to be a bummer, but be on guard against folks who think it's necessary for pupils to have something that doesn't "look so old" and direct the spending of more on tech so you can get a fresh new Windows infestation
Oct 10, 2026, 2:19 AM@fairtradestu
@claudiom
Win XP era laptops still work just fine, given a decent OS.
Haiku, light linux, bsd...
The hardware is just as good as it ever was.
Very usable.
@fairtradestu that is good you can manage it and make good use of the technology. Do they work with Word Online OK too?
@plzupgrademe yes, 365 accounts and the web based office apps work fine. Microsoft have even quietly made Edge for Linux which tends to ensure MS compatibility when it's needed by logging into the browser. Our children don't use MS accounts anymore so it's not an issue for us.
Oct 10, 2026, 1:08 PM@fairtradestu as I still have a Win7 laptop running on Linux, there will be many more years to come.. 😅
👍👍
Oct 10, 2026, 1:10 PM@fairtradestu Its also a good way to get Linux into schools like Apple did in the US years ago.
@fairtradestu sadly, a lot of these have Linux blacklisted on the mobo. I had little luck booting Linux on my defunct Acer from school, only fringe distros like Devuan or Deepin were not banned, but it was enough to bootstrap something decent.
Tho the run of laptops in my school had such highly-binned Intel Celeron N4100s many Linux kernels couldn't boot. The hw defects around memory barriers made the kworkers crash in late boot stages, so I had to build my own Gentoo to set some sanity cflags.
The middle of a crisis of computer part prices seems like a really bad time to replace the entire school's laptops…